Fists of Knowledge
by FlowerofAdversity
Summary: A few months later after "Reawakening". Some strange disappearances have been occuring all over France, and an inspector investigates. Secondarily, a tournament of schools is organized.


Fists of Knowledge

Synopsis: Taking place a few months after "Reawakening". Several local schools in Paris (including Kadic Academy) are the victims of unknown attacks and kidnappings of students and staff. The Lyoko Warriors set out to find who is responsible for the attacks on their school. Eventually, the story reveals that an elite school in the city, Letorneau Junior High, is responsible for the attacks. The young warriors eventually face off against Jean-Claude Letreunt, the principal of the school. Claude is eventually arrested and put in federal prison. The only other school heard of in CL is (in the American English version) Lincoln Junior High. Essentially, XANA is found to be the culprit and has gathered these rival schools together to fight in order to see who is deemed suitable to retrieve these children. But he doesn't suspect one unknown element…The power of song.

Chapter 1--Mysterious Kidnappings

It was winter semester at Kadic and the weather had grown rather cold. Snow had started to fall and finals were fast approaching. The students groaned thinking about how hard they would have to study for this years' test. They had heard it would be a real doozy if they hadn't been paying attention. One of the few students that _wasn't _worried was Jeramie Belpois. In fact, his cousin Patric and Odd were practically _groveling_ to borrow Jeramie's notes.

"You have to tutor us like you did last time.", Odd stated with big, sympathy inducing eyes. He even whimpered like a lost puppy. Jeramie sighed in ennui and frustration.

"Very well, but you two really have to start learning how to do some things on your own for a change. You know you can go to Leona, Emily, Amy or Aelita if need any help. Their intellects are dazzling too.", Jeramie stated with a gargantuan grin.

"He does have a point there.", Patric agreed. The friends walked towards the library for their first of many sessions before the finals. The reward after finals, though, was what the students really looked forward to. Much like the Autumn Fling, it was more of a Sadie Hawkins dance. The girls would ask the boys out and there would be a huge gift exchange, fitting in with the holiday spirit. There were also charitable donations made to local organizations and many of the students would spend time at the orphanages playing with the children there or singing to the elders at the nearby convalescent home. No matter what it was, it wasn't any different than any other time, only that it was more sentimental thanks to Christmas being just around the corner.

The holiday spirit around Kadic began to dim however, when mysterious kidnappings began to take place. These strange attacks weren't subject to their school only but to Sam's original school, Jules Verne Academy and La Petite Preschool. It seemed that whomever was responsible really wanted to get a message across to Kadic, but none of them really knew what that message could be or, let alone, who was truly responsible.

Jim had read about the kidnappings in the morning paper and had noticed something very peculiar about the pattern in all the attacks. The encounters were each targeting children, ages 5 to 15. His heart grew heavy when he realized children from Kadic were being taken as well.

"Jean-Pierre, we have an issue.", Jim stated, seriously over the phone.

"I am well aware of that, Jim. Who do you suppose could be behind these abysmal incidences ?", Jean-Pierre asked. Jim didn't have any clue as to who was responsible, but he knew the police would have to be contacted immediately to do an assessment of the crime scene. While that was happening, he would keep the other students calm as best he could, and the rest of the faculty was instructed to do similarly.

"Didya hear about what happened ?", Frieda said, shivering a bit about she had heard.

"Yes, it's terrifying. I'm a little scared the kidnappers might come after Tammy and me.", Millie said, quivering a little bit. Taelia gave Millie and Tammy a noogie.

"Don't worry, little ones. We'll be here for you. You know we've always taken care of you in the past. Why are you worrying now ?", she said, confidently.

All the while as the younger members of the Lyoko Warriors were being assuaged of their fears, police and inspectors had come to search the premises and look for any evidence that had been left behind. There was no search of a paper trail, but there had been hair and sloughed off skin samples left behind at the scene.

"There is no further fretting, everyone…", Inspector Absalom began, "You may return to your typical duties. We shall trouble you no further until we are needed again." The inspector was pleasant, although serious, and he had every reason to be since members of his squadron were searching other schools within the immediate area. It wasn't an isolated event. His suspicions were growing, however, his mind was open to the possibilities that there were more than one party involved in this heinous act. Right now, he and his squad were busy processing evidence and enforcing the schools in the area with security to prevent any further attacks. If the person or persons of interest involved was to make another move, they would have to get through Absalom security, which was tighter and more complex than Fort Knox. Rest assured, the students knew they had nothing more to fret about, save their upcoming finals.

Chapter 2--Case: Solved ! Or is it ?

Arnold Absalom had traced all the evidence to one central location: Letourneau Junior High. The principal there, though he had a long-standing friendship with Jean-Pierre had been rivals of the Gryffons football team known simply as Chimera (suitable considering their fierceness on the field as well as the fact in mythology Chimera couldn't stand Gryffons and vice versa). The Principal there, Jean-Claude, or as he was more well known, "Claude", was always making idle threats that he would take the Gryffons down one way or the other, or dismantle the academic team, since Letourneau was getting stomped by Kadic year after year. Everyone knew the banter was friendly, but Jean-Pierre felt that there was something different about his demeanor this time around. He felt that perhaps Claude had meant what he had said about "picking apart the team by whatever means necessary". Kidnapping he felt, was the most abysmal means of doing this, but it met his suspicions to the note. And when Absalom called, Jean-Pierre was chilled.

Instantly, Absalom and his squad took Principal Letruent to questioning and then not too much later, he was imprisoned for his crimes. Yet, something didn't quite feel right about how rapidly this case was open and shut. The Warriors knew something was dreadfully fishy about the entire situation and spoke about it amongst themselves.

"I doubt he was acting on his own. Principal Letruent wouldn't have done this. We all know what he had said in the past was a ruse. He gets along with Jean-Pierre like they were brothers or something.", Sam mentioned.

"Yeah, this is true. I've noticed how palsy they were in past games against us.", William agreed. It didn't seem like anything Claude would do normally.

"Do you think more kidnappings will occur ?", Aelita asked, with tremors in her voice.

"Not with Absalom's security buffering us as well as the rest of those schools. They seem pretty tough, Ae.", Yumi reassured, clapping her hand on her friend's shoulder.

"I think we should do some further investigation.", Michael suggested.

"Why though ? Artie said, 'cased closed'. It's done.", Milly stated, honestly.

"I think Mike has a good point here, and not to play devil's advocate. But like everyone else on our team, I have been noticing the Principal's unusual actions. I think XANA is involved.", Amy stated, honestly.

"That is what I felt from all along but I was afraid to go out on a limb.", Ulrich chimed in. Even though, technically, the evidence had been filed and Principal Letruent had been incarcerated, the Warriors decided to do a little bit of digging of their own and do what they could to find out who was truly behind the distraction. There was definitely a larger scheme involved here, and they would uncover what it was, even if it meant going against the law to do so.

Chapter 3--Mad Hacking Skills of the 'Egg-Heads'

Jeramie, Aelita, Emily, Leona and Meiyo combined formed a team of hackers that had been able to bypass Detective Absalom's 'fortified security' by a simple act of asking to go to the restroom. The SWAT team felt nothing devious or sneaky was going on and let the youngsters pass without batting an eyelash. No sooner were they in the library that the five of them unpacked their laptops and began hacking into Letourneau's system as well as the other junior high schools that were attacked.

The hacking took a number of hours until Jeramie pulled up the surveillance films from Claude's desk.

"It's XANA alright. Look at his eyes in this still.", Jeramie said. It seemed that _other _principals in the area were also taken over by XANA's influence.

"But what could he be up to this time ? I've never seen him do anything like that !", Odd said, appalled at what he was seeing as the children mysteriously vanished one by one from their schools.

"Wait…Go back !", Taelia said, noticing something.

"What is it ?", Emily said, pausing her screen momentarily.

"I saw something unusual there. Rewind, please.", she said. Emily obeyed and paused when Taelia told her to.

"See that ?", she pointed out. Right there, despite the darkness, there was a swirling vortex of iridescence that burned so brightly it nearly blinded them by looking at it.

"XANA again !", Tammy observed, eyebrows furrowed. Just then, Jim happened to come into the library, Suzanne by his side.

"What took ya ?", Odd stated, jokingly.

"Very funny, Odd. We tried to get past the detective's security, and it wasn't that easy. You kids have a height advantage where we don't.", Jim said, his hand behind his head momentarily. The teens and children laughed.

"Luckily I used a little bit of feminine allure to divert their attention and we were in like Flynn.", Suzanne said, with a wink to Jim. Jim smiled and kissed her cheek.

"Smart and beautiful. I love her more every day.", Jim stated, poetically.

"Let's get back on track shall we.", Leona pointed their attention to what Taelia had discovered earlier.

"These portals are likely being created by XANA. Apparently he is spiriting them away to another dimension. Question is why, and where. Using the principals as red herrings was apparent enough, but this just keeps getting weirder.", Leona stated, pointing out the vortex in Emily's surveillance footage.

"I suggest we take a trip to these schools and see for ourselves.", Frieda said.

"Excellent idea, Frieda. We have no more time to waste.", Jeramie said, seriously. Collectively the five hackers closed their laptops and left the library while the rest of them followed behind them. It wasn't that much longer that they had begun their search at the initial starting point of this entire enigma: Letourneau High.

Chapter 4--Into the Rabbit Hole

After Letourneau, the group arrived at Diderot Academy, the same school that, once upon a time faced off against Kadic in the Eighth Grade Interschool Soccer Championship so long ago. The kids and adults questioned some of the teachers there but few had any know-how of where the children at Diderot were taken.

"Still nothing. Nada. Zilch !", Odd said, becoming exasperated.

"We haven't even begun our investigation yet, silly !", Sissi stated, obviously. Odd rolled his eyes. He was getting annoyed with lack of information they had failed to gather at this point. He thought to himself,

"How much longer is this going to take ?", but decided it was best to remain patient in this situation. They had to be getting closer to the source of the maker of the conundrum, XANA.

Inexplicably from the middle of the field came a kaleidoscopic vortex and a rather doleful eyed piper was leading children of all ages into it. The melody on his fife was wistful and merry but his eyes were so melancholy it made one want to cry just seeing them. So sorrowful and empty, devoid of any other emotion but agony and misery.

"Follow that pied piper !", Meiyo said in a hush as the rest of the team crept up behind her and took her lead. In single file, the Warriors came after her and entered the vortex, one by one.

"I don't recognize this place.", Meiyo said.

"Neither do I, and both of us have seen our fair share of dimensions.", Amy agreed. The two nodded as if they shared a secret only the two of them shared.

"Well then, where could we be ?", Jeramie inquired.

"Somewhere created entirely by XANA for his evil purposes.", Aelita said, shuddering at the thought of it.

"I don't even know what XANA has in mind this time, but we have to keep following that piper. He'll lead us to XANA.", Leona added. Faithfully the group followed Leona and Aelita on the trail of the piper even though the background was ominous and eerie. Apparently, the children didn't see the dimension as what it was. It was a living, breathing nightmare.

Chapter 5--With Their Youth, I Regain Mine

All the children and teens from various schools where the disappearances had taken place were gathered in an area that had coffins laid out in a circular pattern. Each coffin was connected one to another, like a vast network. At the center of the "network" stood the pied piper himself, who shed this friendly guise and revealed his true insidious nature.

"What is he going to do with them ?", Frieda asked, horrified. The center of the circle had XANA as its focus and the network connected to his pod.

"I don't know, Frieda, but it is definitely evil.", Emily said.

"We can't just idly sit by and watch this happen.", Amy stated with frustration, pulling on her older sister's arm.

"Calm down. We need to assess the situation and formulate our plan. Being placid is key, girls.", Suzanne said gently, hugging them both from behind. Immediately, Amy's anger disappeared and Emily's haste to jump into the fray against XANA no longer was an issue.

From what the Warriors could assess, the students that had been abducted were going to be drained of their youth. Apparently, XANA was fearful that he was going to die relatively soon. It seemed so illogical for him to fear something as petty as that. Human rules as far as life and death were concerned, were not applicable in his case. He was a virus. He could simply reproduce himself and create himself from the bottom up unlike a human being. Once a human was dead they went to heaven, or unless they didn't believe that, respectably, they turned back into dust and helped life continue on the planet.

"It's ridiculous. I never knew he had thanatophobia.", Jeramie observed.

"It is a common fear. He must've contracted it from someone he possessed.", Suzanne stated.

"Could be. He has had access to many human thoughts and behaviors. Some of them might have become part of his protocol.", Jeramie hypothesized.

"How do we stop him, though ? We don't want to hurt the abductees here in this case.", Yumi said.

"It seems almost impossible. I don't see any openings.", Taelia added, after making the necessary calculations.

"I know this is a long shot, but how about trying music for a change ?", Emily offered. In many instances when they didn't want to use violence, the power of song won their battles for them. Yet, they hadn't used this source in many years and it almost seemed as if it would be too simplistic of a tactic. However, as Taelia said, there were no openings to attack XANA directly without hitting one of the coffins the children would be forced to lie down in and be drained of their youthful vitality. If the Warriors didn't do _something_, the children would become living corpses, shells of their former selves. Even worse, once their entire souls were removed, they would _die_.

Just when it seemed that Emily's idea would be the perfect plan, a few other vortices appeared. XANA then said, with a bit of a chuckle,

"You curious little brats just can't leave well enough alone, can you ?"

It had been a ploy to lure them there, and they hadn't been the only ones that had come. There were others too. A group of students from Letourneau were there, as well as Diderot, Jules Verne, Julliard Private School, Fielding Academy and St. Anna Maria of the Reeds, to name a few. It seemed XANA had a bigger plan in mind, but the students had no idea what awaited them.

Chapter 6--Tournament of Schools

"I have brought you here, fellow warriors, to prove which one of you is worthy of rescuing these children. If none of you can accomplish this task, I will drain each of them of their vitality and thereby gain my immortality.", XANA said as he raised his arms upward as if he were some sort of messianic figure. Seeing such a pompous display disgusted everyone.

"Who does this joker think he is ?", one student from another academy scoffed.

"I am XANA young man. You needn't know where I came from, only that I called you. Before we begin the Tournament of Schools, I must instate some rules you must all follow. There will be a Warrior, one from each school chosen to fight against each other. There will be a respectable no weapons fight from the two combatants. No hitting below the belt, no trash talk, and no fatal moves. In other words, a respectable fight. Once one of the combatants is spent of his or her energy, then a winner will be declared. This continues until the final round when the best fighter faces their opponent. Whomever wins this battle will be declared champion and the students will go free. The rest of you will be sent home with no further questions asked.", XANA stated with a bit of a sneer. Even if he held his end of the bargain, he probably had an ace up his sleeve.

XANA suddenly materialized a coin in his hand.

"I choose Jim Morales, the Lightning Warrior, as first to fight. Heads is the nurse from Julliard Private school as a potential opponent, tails is the chemistry teacher of Fielding Academy. I will now toss the coin.", XANA explained. Then he tossed the coin and it landed on his palm.

"Tails.", XANA said. Jim looked at the chemistry teacher he would have to face and blushed darkly. He tried not to be impressed with her physical beauty, but he did have to admit, Dr. Ryoko Mizuki was rather alluring and everyone else around the arena felt so too. Suzanne glared at Jim, jealous of his wandering eyes. With a hand behind his head he chuckled.

"The sumptuous chemist can't take the place of you, Suzie. You know that. I'm sorry, but you know how men's eyes are drawn to other beautiful forms.", Jim said. Suzanne, a bit miffed, decided to forgive him anyway. Mizuki seemed like a bit of a floozy anyway in the way she moved and dressed. If her skirt had been any shorter, it might as well not have been worn !

Ryoko tried to do her best winning the battle with her feminine wiles but Jim had the upper hand. He had never in his life struck someone unless they deserved it, and Ryoko had said something very insensitive about Suzanne. She had no grounds of making such accusations about his splendid wife. Technically, Jim was the cool-hand-Luke in situations such as this, but when his wife's honor was in question, he turned into a lion.

"Dr. Mizuki, you wench ! How dare you say such a horrible thing about my dear, darling wife !", he said, landing a kick to her solar plexus before she could retaliate. All the wind had been knocked out of her and the match had been called even before a real fight could begin. XANA was astonished, which was saying quite a bit, considering he wasn't an easy virus to impress.

"The winner of this battle by technical knock out is Lightning Warrior Jim Morales. He will move on to the next round.", XANA stated. The members of the schools looked at each other with some anxiety. They wondered who would be next in the tournament. Matters were certainly becoming increasingly complex for all of them, but at least for the moment, all of them were relieved that not one child had been sacrificed to endow XANA with immorality.

Chapter 7--Final Fight, but not the Final Battle

Jim hadn't had any idea that he would've made it to the final round. Truly, he was the strongest among them, but he had used battle tactics he had learned from Vietnam to assist him in the fights he had won. Suzanne had been rubbing his shoulders and keeping him hydrated.

"I feel like Rocky with my beloved Adrian to cheer me on.", he said, leaning her over backwards to smooch her passionately. She chortled drunkenly and smiled at him. Kissing him softly again she stroked his face affectionately.

"Be careful in this last fight, James. That Judo coach from St. Anna Maria of the Reeds looks tough.", Suzanne said. She took his hand in hers and brought it up to her lips to kiss it before the battle began. XANA was biding his time, looking at a stop watch he had in the pocket of his digital suit. He seemed bored, but it was difficult to read his expression, or lack thereof.

The Judo instructor, Moreau Henson, stepped forward and went into his stance.

"Begin !", XANA exclaimed. The two men charged forward and Jim high-kicked Moreau. Henson staggered back.

"Pencak Silat, created in Indonesia. Interesting.", he said, while placing his fingers to his chin. Jim was impressed with Henson's movements as well. The ultra-muscular coach and Jim had quite a bit in common, most notably, their love of martial arts. Jim felt a bit bad about having to spar against this man, but thus far, he had the advantage until Moreau uppercut him. Jim adjusted his jaw and chuckled a bit. The pain was only momentary and the fight had only begun to become intriguing.

Unlike most of the fights that proceeded this one, the battle was continuing into the late evening. Both competitors were becoming tired, but they were matched equally. The powerful Moreau wanted to wave the white flag and allow his opponent to win. He had been beaten up pretty significantly and was starting to feel pain all over his body.

"I surrender.", Moreau said, coming in with his white t-shirt in hand after the two of them had taken a small break between bouts. XANA had never seen this occur before and it wasn't as he would've predicted the fight would've ended.

"Very well then. Morales is victorious and the students are set free.", XANA said. Without one moment of hesitation, XANA snapped his finger and the students were gone, as well as the implements used to drain their essence.

"Now what ?", Patric asked after a long, pregnant pause.

"I now realize that my initial plot to kidnap these students was ill-advised. There is no documentation that states I can inherit immortality simply by tapping into the essence of a youngster. Science states it is an immoral act, and I suppose I have done wrong in trying to test it for myself. But since you won the tournament, the students have been safely returned to their homes and think of their meeting with the pied piper as nothing more than reverie.", XANA said.

"Get to the point, you windbag.", Taelia said, growing impatient.

"Now now, Russian Princess. Calm yourself. If I cannot get immortality through them, I will try getting it through the Keys themselves. That is…If the lot of you cannot aide them. Either you can hand the Keys over or we have to fight.", XANA stated.

"We are the Keys.", Aelita said, looking at Leona.

"I too, am a Key. Between our dimension and others.", Amy said.

"That includes myself.", Meiyo added, unafraid of what sacrificing herself would entail.

"You can't ! If you're gone…I don't know what I'd do. How I'd live without you. Aelita, I _love _you !", Jeramie stated, hugging her. Leona covered her mouth as tears filled her eyes. Everyone else tried not to cry as well, since the scene was so touching.

"Please don't Princess. You're our friend. And the rest of you that are thinking of sacrificing yourselves, don't you dare !", Sam said, compassionately. The Keys contemplated this and stepped back.

"Even if we are Keys, we have a right to live.", Leona said, in a stately manner.

"I was afraid you would say that little Princess. Then, I have one decree left for you Keys to survive.", XANA said, with a slight sneer on his face. His eyes glowed eerily red and he began to laugh manically.

Chapter 8--The Power of Song

The scenery quickly changed until the cosmos surrounded them. They seemed to be able to breathe normally even though their atmosphere suggested they would not be.

"I will forcefully take your energy from you. How lovely it is that you are always willing to be a sacrifice for people you don't know !", XANA said as he zapped the lot of them. They began to felt winded and XANA felt more powerful.

"Your purity is just what I need to obtain my immortality.", XANA said as he raised his staff again before they could retailiate. The whole group fell to their knees and yelped in agony, gritting their teeth.

"This isn't even a fair fight, you _cheater_ !", Millie whimpered.

"I'm _tired_ of being _fair_, brat ! I have no soul ! I have no conscious !", XANA hollered. Just then, Amy began to bolster herself up with help from her scythe. She took Leona's hand and she too got up, using her glaive as a crutch.

"You should all be _knocked down_ ! How is it you are able to stand up ? Can you have that much stamina in your veins ?!", XANA questioned, infuriated. He was flabbergasted at what he was seeing. He had seen them beat undeniable odds, but this time, their willpower amazed him. Even in their quivering voices, the lot of them sang La Marsellias, the revolutionary anthem of France and of _revolution_ itself.

XANA covered his ears. What was this wretched noise he was hearing ? It was awful, and he couldn't bear it. It was weakening him somehow. The energy he had stolen was being lost with every note that lingered in the air. At last, he was left on his side, cringing and whimpering in fetal position.

"We cannot fight like this. It is an unequal playing field.", Emily said, logically.

"We would be animals to take advantage of this situation.", Taelia added, solemnly. XANA couldn't understand why the Warriors were being so gracious, but they had always been this way in the past.

"Your graciousness won't be forgotten. But next time, you know I am not going to go easy on you, Warriors.", he said, using the last of his power to disappear. The Warriors were left to transmit themselves back home. Despite the fact they were exhausted, they teleported back to France and found everyone fast asleep as if nothing at all had occurred. They had to chuckle momentarily about the irony of the situation, since they themselves would be going to bed. With a click of their cell phones, their Warrior garb disappeared and they were in normal clothes before heading back to their dorms to sleep.

Chapter 9--A Well Deserved Respite

Things seemed to remain calm as the Warriors slept. The next morning, the sun peeked through the fluffy clouds. It was a peaceful day. The students had recently finished their finals and were relieved their studying had paid off.

Sissi had invited all of her friends over to her mansion for a grand celebration. Even Claude, Edna, Justin and the Rosenheims were there. It was akin to a family reunion, except no one was showing off embarrassing baby photos or mortifying home movies of toilet training. Everyone was having a blast.

In the midst of the celebration, Edna and Justin had caught wind that the faculty, staff and students would be heading off to the lodge this winter vacation. Of course, they would have to have permission from their parents if they wanted to take the traditional field trip. There would be some renovations on the lodge in the woods, but most likely, the builders would be gone before the faculty and students ever arrived there.

"Just like every year then ? Even despite the troubles with the school budget ?", Zach questioned, curiously. The only reason Zach even knew of the monetary troubles was because Jacob, his father, acted as a treasurer and he had seen the accounts for himself. This year, the money situation was a bit tight, but he was fairly confident that the fundraisers they had held months earlier fixed some of those issues pretty well.

"It should be. We'll have to wait for Principal Delmas' decree. He's going to be speaking to us any moment now.", Justin said, excitedly. Suddenly, spoons rang against champagne glasses filled with sparkling grape juice to command everyone to attention; Jean-Pierre was about to make his speech.

Jean-Pierre reported he was happy to say that his friend, Jean-Claude was innocent the whole time, and in fact, the principal had been among them celebrating. He had been given a pardon after the Inspector realized that the DNA had been planted there, but he never knew who did it. Despite that, it was ruled as "case: closed" and no further investigating was done into the strange source of the planted DNA. He quickly segued into saying he was pleased everyone was enjoying themselves and that the year had gone so well. He was pleased to see that the students would be advancing to their next year in school, knowing in the back of his mind they would be transitioning elsewhere after their final year. They would probably work or go to college. Whatever they decided, he gave them pearls of wisdom to keep with them on their journey. At last he reached his denumeax.

"I am delighted to say that we will again be taking our traditional sojourn to the lodge this Christmas. Any of you that haven't been, I highly recommend that you join us, for it is a trip you will not soon forget.", he said. Upon leaving the podium the entire room burst into cheers, whistles and contented applause.

Epilogue 

"You're right, Ziva ! This really _is_ enjoyable !", Leona exclaimed emphatically as she skied down the slope without any troubles at all. Ziva had taught her how to point her skis effectively and how to stop without falling on her backside.

"Yes, very impressive for two teens out of the desert !", Zach said, reffering to himself and his sister, chuckling as he slid by and stopped next to him with a bit of flair.

"Show off.", Ziva said, playfully poking her sibling in the rib.

"Hey, guys ! I'm getting hungry. What do you say we head back up to the lodge. I hear they're making a creamy potato soup topped with bacon bits, scallions and sour cream. And there is more where that came from.", Odd said, practically salivating at the thought of the 'loaded baked potato' concoction.

"My yes, that sounds delightful.", Edna said, as she followed him up the hill, step by step.

"Why not. I think we could all use a break.", William agreed. With that, the large group of friends and Warriors hiked up the mountain and sat down for a splendid feast the likes of which the Warriors only thought possible on Lyoko when they had been victorious over XANA.

The darkness had come early as it often did during winter. Christmas wasn't far away and everyone was looking forward to celebrating again. It was a blessing for them to be together again, enjoying everyone's company. For the time being, they could all forget about XANA but remain true to their training just like Jim had taught them to do. Although it was enjoyable and fun, the skiing had kept them in shape for whatever tricks XANA had up his sleeve in their next battle. Secretly, they hoped that this would be the final one, but no one could say for sure if that would be the case or not. All that mattered now is everyone was safe, warm, and well-fed. Christmas time had come, and celebration rang throughout the air. As the friends and faculty sang "Bring A Torch Jeanette Isabella" and other familiar French carols throughout the night, they were warmed by the reassurance that this tradition would never change, and neither would their friendships.

The End


End file.
